


How many hats?

by Abby_Gal



Category: Psych (TV 2006)
Genre: Counting hats, Gen, Hats, Identity Reveal, Insecure Shawn Spencer, Panic Attacks, Reveal, Sad Shawn Spencer, Shawn Spencer Angst, Shawn Spencer Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:21:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25745008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abby_Gal/pseuds/Abby_Gal
Summary: After Shawn kills a man to protect his best friend, he can’t stop his overstimulated brain from making him watch the man falling to the ground again and again.  Luckily the man who has helped train his brain as a kid is there to help him calm down.
Relationships: Burton "Gus" Guster & Shawn Spencer, Carlton Lassiter & Shawn Spencer, Henry Spencer & Shawn Spencer, Juliet O'Hara & Shawn Spencer, Juliet O'Hara/Shawn Spencer, Shawn Spencer & Karen Vick
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	How many hats?

**Author's Note:**

> I have never had a panic attack before so I don’t really know what it’s like. I am using what I’ve read in other fanfics as a guide for when I write Shawn having a slight panic attack. If I’m far off the mark on what it’s like, I apologize.

* * *

**SANTA BARBARA POLICE DEPARTMENT**

* * *

_stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop. stop._

Shawn’s photographic memory is the reason he is freaking out. While it is his greatest tool when hunting down criminals to expose them for their evil crimes, it was a terrible privilege. Hence why he kept seeing the criminal falling to the ground time and time again, killed by the gun fired by Shawn himself.

He kept reliving it. The criminal, Shawn couldn't even remember his name, held a gun up against Gus' head. Shawn was paralyzed in shock. His best friend was being held hostage and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. The criminal forced the detectives to drop their guns and kick them away. They knew they couldn't do anything with a civilian's life on the line, which is technically what Gus is, even though he and Shawn solve crimes for the SBPD. Lassie and Jules had entered across the room from Shawn and when Lassiter kicked his gun away, it skidded to a stop next to Shawn's feet. As Shawn looked down to it, he knew he had no other choice. And so, even though he hated all of his father's lessons and tests that were drilled into his head, he knew he had to take action to save his best friend. When the criminal looked away, Shawn bent down, grabbed the gun and fired. The criminal dropped to the ground.

And now, two hours later, Shawn's hands were still shaking. He knew his father would be disappointed when he found out. One of the lessons Shawn learned was to not allow his hands to shake when he fired a gun, and, well, Shawn wasn't aiming for the guy's heart, but his shoulder. Shawn just wanted to hit his shoulder so the criminal would be disabled in that arm and wouldn't be able to kill Gus. He hadn't meant to kill anyone!

Shawn was currently sitting on a chair outside the chief's office. He couldn't close his eyes, for fear of seeing the criminal fall dead to the ground and the better option was to watch the department. Though the problem with that was that he was _too_ focused. Shawn had kept a mental tally chart of the hats passing in and out of precinct. And when the hat count hadn't changed, Shawn would notice smaller details. For instance, Dobson didn't replace the coffee after using it all, there were 7 donuts remaining in the donut box at the coffee bar: rainbow sprinkles, Bavarian crème, custard, glazed, strawberry frosted, powdered sugar (which Woody kept glancing at), and a strawberry jelly-filled. From his pacing by Juliet's desk earlier, he counted the 58 sprinkles on the sprinkled donut and how the French vanilla coffee creamer was sugar free because Officer Allen couldn't have the regular French vanilla coffee and she worked later hours. But Shawn knew the Chief secretly kept a normal coffee creamer hidden in her office because she can't have her coffee without it. Shawn also noticed the 32 sugars and 27 creamer cups that Lassie couldn't drink his coffee without. The plant on the left side of the staircase leading to the interrogation rooms needed water and was beginning to die and the plant on the right had been knocked over and the janitor had yet to clean up the loose dirt that had been spilled.

"Shawn!"

Shawn looked up at his father racing in, wearing his favorite yellow bucket fishing hat. 16 hats now. Shawn knew what to do... he closed his eyes and pointed out all of the hats. 6 police officers were wearing the official police hat with the other officers' hats presumably being in their respective cars. Juliet had a purple women's sun hat laying on her desk for when she went on her evening stroll along the beach for her 6:00 walk and dinner which she went on everyday in her free time. Lassiter had a tan fishing hat on his desk for whenever he has the free time to go out on the ocean to fish or for when he goes on a fishing trip. Buzz McNab had brought his favorite blue Dodgers cap into the precinct today, which had been a gift from Francie for Buzz's latest birthday. The three men by the check in station, who Shawn assumed were the owners of the red pickup truck with the expired license plate, all wore trucker hats advertising different companies in the Santa Barbara area with the colors ranging from blue to red to yellow. The man at one of the police desks was wearing a suit and a matching fedora and was probably reporting a stolen car from the fancy restaurant he had spent the evening at with his new girlfriend, though judging from the wedding band tan on his empty ring finger, she didn't know he was already married. Hank Mendel, the Old Senora Sheriff, was leaning up against Lassiter's desk with his cowboy hat in his hand, probably to visit the detective he is so close to, yet Lassie is in the Chief's office discussing the events that occurred today along with Juliet. And finally, the drunk handcuffed to the bench near the holding cells wearing a stolen white women's dress hat on his head, which was adorned with purple and pink flowers and matching lace along the rim.

"Shawn. Shawn! SHAWN!"

Shawn looked up at his father, who was kneeling right in front of him and snapping his fingers in front of his face.

"Woah Pop. You are so fast! You were just standing over by the door. You must be the Flash because you were so fast that I didn't even see you come over here. Well maybe not the Flash because he is young and has hair and well, hate to break it to you, but you just aren't as young as he is and you don't have any hair at all. Maybe-"

"SHAWN! Stop talking! Kid, stop talking right now. Everyone is already staring at you from your hat ramble. You are about to blow it"

"Blow it? Wait... I said the hat thing aloud?"

"Yeah kid. Look around. Everyone is watching you, wondering why you are talking about hats."

Shawn looked around. The Chief had come out of her office, flanked by Detectives Lassiter and O'Hara. The Chief had a look of understanding and awe painting her face, while the detectives were shocked and impressed.

Gus ran over from where he was laying down in the psychological evaluation room. He had heard a few officers talking about how Shawn Spencer was currently sitting on a chair outside the Chief's office ranting about the hats in the room, but more surprisingly with his eyes closed. Gus knew his best friend and he knew what was happening. Shawn was too focused from the adrenaline rush and panic running through his veins.

"Oh my god, Shawn! What was that? Is he ok? Does he have a concussion? What is the deal with the hats? Did he seriously just recount the details from the precinct with his eyes closed? Wait..." Juliet faltered off as the weight of her words settled on her. She knelt down beside Shawn, "Photographic memory."

Lassie shook his head and walked over. "Impossible. There's no way Spencer has a photographic memory. Is it true?" he asked, turning to Henry.

"Well there's no point in hiding it. Yes. Shawn has a photographic memory and hyper observant skills. He was rambling about hats because it was part of a game we used to play where he'd look around a restaurant and then recount small details such as the manager's name or which letter was out in the 'EXIT' sign above the door."

One of the police officers in the back spoke up. "Wait. Does that mean he isn't actually a psychic?"

Shawn looked up. "I am still here, you know. And uh, I uh."

Chief Vick cut in, "Why don't we move this conversation into my office? I can fill the rest of the department in on any pertinent information discussed. That will be all."

The officers continued with their work and the six of them walked into the office, Shawn leaning heavily on both Gus and Lassie. Lassie could tell that Shawn was panicking over having shot the criminal and was in need of support, so he put aside their differences and helped Shawn. He would never admit it but he did enjoy having the fake-psychic around. He was funny and good at what he does, even though Lassiter never believed in the whole Psychic schtick.

Karen Vick sat down in her chair and folded her arms. "The detectives have already filled me in one what happened, Shawn, but I want to hear your side of the story. And I knew about the hyper observant skills and photographic memory, so you can drop the psychic charade. Everyone knows the truth now."

"Well..."

As Shawn explained his side of the story, Juliet couldn't help but listen in awe. She was hearing what happens in the brain of Shawn Spencer and it was actually impressive what clues he was able to spot and piece together into hard, irrefutable evidence. It was more impressive that he was not actually psychic but instead somewhat of a crime solving genius. Juliet was mad and annoyed with Shawn, of course, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything to him in his fragile and panicking state. And she couldn't deny that she was in awe of his skills.

"My hands were shaking when I picked up the gun. I was scared for the life of my best friend because he was being held hostage with a gun at his head. I meant to hit the arm of the criminal to disable him, but my shaky hands caused the bullet to hit his heart instead. It was an accident and I'm sorry for my shaking hands, Dad. I know how much you hated when my hands shook when I held a gun."

Henry just nodded with a simple, "It's ok. It wasn't your fault, kid."

Juliet spoke up, "I'm still confused. What happened in the hallway? You've never done that before"

"Sensory overload I guess. And I was too focused on everything around me. It's instinct now to take in the smallest details and count and describe hats for my father to test my memory. So it was just a habit. And I was still panicking from the whole gun thing. For example, the coffee needs replaced, there were 7 donuts remaining in the donut box at the coffee bar: rainbow sprinkles, Bavarian crème, custard, glazed, strawberry frosted, powdered sugar, and a strawberry jelly-filled. There are 58 sprinkles on the sprinkled donut and the French vanilla coffee creamer was sugar free because Officer Allen can't have the regular French vanilla coffee. And I know the Chief keeps a secret stash of French Vanilla coffee creamer in here because the only way she can drink her coffee is with a ton of coffee creamer, but she hates the flavor of the sugar-free stuff. There are 32 sugars and 27 creamer cups. The plant on the left side of the staircase leading to the interrogation rooms needs water and is beginning to die and the plant on the right had been knocked over recently, but quickly returned upright before the person who knocked it over could be spotted and the janitor has yet to clean up the loose dirt that had been spilled."

"Woah" Juliet muttered. "That's so cool, Shawn! But why not say something sooner about not being a psychic? You've been with us long enough and solved plenty of crimes that we wouldn't be that angry with you."

Shawn looked bashful and stared at his shoes. "The same reason that I'm not looking forward to what happens once we've finished talking, Jules. The Chief told me on my first case that if I was faking being a psychic, that I would be arrested. And combine that with the fact that Lassie hates my guts and has threatened to put me behind bars from day one, I assume that's where I'm going now. So, my conscience is clear. My lies are revealed. Apologies were given. So, Detective Lassiter, I'm ready."

Shawn held out his arms, side by side, preparing himself to be taken to a holding cell. Juliet seemed to be on the verge of tears. Carlton looked shocked and confused. Chief Vick had a guilty expression, yet disbelieving at the same time. Henry and Gus both looked sad and pitiful for Shawn.

Chief Vick opened and closed her mouth a few times. "Do you- do you really think that?"

At Shawn's nod she continued. "God, Shawn, I couldn't. I knew you aren't psychic. I've known for a while. I just never outed you because you got results and solved a ton of crimes, most of which were unsolvable for any other cops I have."

Shawn looked up at her. "Wait you knew?!"

Karen rolled her eyes. "Shawn, seriously? Your father and I were super close when we were on the force together. He recommended me to be the chief. I knew how he solved cases and I know he has a photographic memory and is hyper observant. You don't think I knew how he'd train his son who wanted nothing more than to grow up and follow in his father's footsteps? Give me more credit. I am the chief for a reason. Also you were super obvious."

Shawn looked ashamed. "Whaaaaaa?"

Suddenly he sat up straight. "Wait! I was not obvious!"

Karen laughed. "Shawn. The ring case? Gus had to elbow you in the side because you were being too obvious with the secretary's signature from the school computer case I gave you before you went on and solved the ring case anyway."

Shawn shrugged, still not convinced. Lassiter cleared his throat from where he was standing with his arms crossed by the window.

"Listen Spe- Shawn. I don't hate you. I'm just bad with people and emotions. I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I hated you but I actually consider us friends. You are fun to be around and are actually amusing. I guess I just hide under a strong and strict mask because I'm bad with emotions. I don't hate you and would never arrest you unless you actually committed a crime, which you didn't by pretending to be psychic."

Shawn looked stunned. "Wow Lassie. I appreciate it. Thank you." Carlton nodded in return.

Shawn smiled. "Thanks guys. I appreciate it and I'm sorry I lied to you for all these years."

Gus grinned. "See Shawn? I told you they wouldn't hate you if you told them the truth."

"Yeah buddy. You were right. You know what we should do know?"

Karen rose an eyebrow. "And what would that be, Mr. Spencer?"

"GROUP HUG!!" Shawn ran over to his girlfriend and spun her in a circle. Juliet started giggling and hugged her boyfriend's torso, while Henry pulled his son into a side hug. Gus, not wanting to feel left out, ran over to join the hug. Karen and Carlton locked eyes and shrugged, walking over to join the hug as well.

And Shawn knew that everything would be alright. As long as he had the people he loved most beside him, he could do anything.

From then on, 16 became Shawn's lucky number.

**16 Hats.**

**Author's Note:**

> Psych is my favorite TV show and, as always, thank you so much for reading. If you have time, give me some love in the comment section if you liked it or even give me some tips for future fics ❤️🍍  
> …………
> 
> There will be a second chapter to this story. It probably will include everyone getting used to Shawn's gift knowing that he isn't actually a psychic and more Gus moments since I only wrote like one sentence of dialogue for him. I have a few ideas so stay tuned!!


End file.
